Montgomery County Sheriff ’s Office ups support for mental health crises

The Montgomery County Sheriff ’s Office has formed a crisis intervention team with the goal to assist health officials on calls where someone is suffering a mental health crisis.

County commissioners approved the agreement, which aims at improving response to mental health-related incidents, between the sheriff’s office and Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare on Tuesday.

The sheriff ’s office was awarded a grant from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for up to $350,000 in October.

According to the memorandum of understanding between the sheriff ’s office and Tri-County, the county will act as a passthrough agency for the funds to Tri-County, which will carry out the requirements of the two-year grant.

Sheriff Rand Henderson said he would assign four patrol deputies to the team that will examine, investigate and respond to people in a mental health crisis with TriCounty mental health professionals.

Henderson said the driving force behind launching the new team is the growing number of people with mental health issues and the public safety concerns related to those individuals.

“I am grateful for the partnership with Tri-County and our holistic approach to responding and aiding those suffering a mental health crisis,” Henderson said. “This innovative team and its approach will provide strategies and interventions that are critical to addressing those suffering a mental health crisis.”

Tri-County Executive Director Evan Roberson said the goal is to help get those who have a crisis the help they need.

“We know that all too often persons with mental illness end up in jails, emergency rooms or other nontherapeutic locations when they really need mental health treatment,” Roberson said. “This program with Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office provides an opportunity to impact more persons in a mental health crisis in Montgomery County.”

The creation of the teams comes after commissioners approved $15 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds for TriCounty in November to extend the county’s contract with the agency through 2024.

In August 2021, commissioners allocated $6 million in federal funds to help establish a new treatment facility in east Montgomery County.